Spring arrived in Helsinki during the last week. A few weeks ago I saw a lonely Dandelion push through the dry, brown leaf litter. After only 2 days of rain, the forest floor is now carpeted in wildflowers and the trees look as if they are wearing finely woven green shawls.
On my hike I encountered not only the first pheasant of the season but also the first toad. I was unable to convince the pheasant that posing for a picture would lead to instant fame on the internet. But a big, old, ugly, brown toad was sunning himself on the footpath and to the contrary, he refused to move at all. I was concerned that he might get ridden over by a bicycle or just hurt by a hiking boot, so I tried to talk to him and tickling his feet to make him move. He ignored me. Eventually, when I stepped back he resignedly walked off the path. I had never seen his like before and I wondered what he had been doing during winter while the ground was covered under snow and when the river was frozen.
When I got home, I did some internet research. Apparently he is a Common European Toad – Latin name: Bufo Bufo. They hibernate during the winter, prefer walking to jumping and can get up to 40 years old. It may have been a bit cheeky tickling the old timer’s feet with a little twig then.The Sourdough Rye Olive Ciabatta Challenge
About a month ago, my friend Viviane presented me with a challenge in terms of my bread baking. She lives in that beautiful, southern, tropical city of Durban next to a nature reserve.
She just happened to mention that it would be nice if I could find a recipe for sourdough, rye ciabatta with olives. She then stirred my sleeping competitive spirit by mentioning the fact that she used to buy such ciabattas at a nearby bakery. Well, how could I not rise to the challenge? I love baking and love finding or creating something new or unusual that I have never baked or cooked before.
I spent last Saturday trying to meet this challenge but I must admit that I have failed. My dough was too soft and while rising, spread all over the kitchen counter instead of towards the ceiling. A bit like a blob in a sci-fi flick trying to invade the planet. I eventually shaped the 2 loaves as pannini or baguette shapes to try and hold them together. They still spread out a bit flat instead of being round and the texture was a bit dense and heavy.
I am the sort of person who would rather sneak out during the night with a paper bag over my head and my baking flop well wrapped to place it in the bin, than admit it was a flop. But I must admit that even though the olive loaves did not meet any of the requirements, other than to contain olives, they tasted too good to throw away. Instead, we will eat them and I will have to continue working on my recipe during the coming months until I can present a ciabatta that I can be proud of.
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